Danny Rohl says his Wednesday squad is fit and raring to go for tomorrow’s Championship opener against Plymouth at Hillsborough.
After completing the great escape under Rohl at the end of last season and a summer of 10 new signings, there is a real feelgood factor around the club and hopes are high that the young manager has pieced together a squad that can see us looking towards the top of the table, rather than at the other end.
Rohl said there are no injury problems ahead of the Plymouth challenge and the squad was further boosted on Thursday with the arrival of striker Ike Ugbo, back at S6 in a permanent deal following his successful loan period in the second half of last season.
The manager said: “We have worked very hard in the last five and a half weeks, there have been a lot of games, a lot of training sessions and we are ready for the start of the season. It is a good feeling.”
He added that the early recruitment in the transfer market meant he and his coaching team could start working immediately with the players on particular areas needing improvement, saying: “The crucial thing now is that we can transfer this from training to the pitch at the stadium on Sunday.
“We want to win games, take points and play our style of football.”
The young manager said of the newly-shaped squad: “We have a lot of good players together, you see that in training when you play with two teams against each other and there’s a big challenge at the moment with everyone fighting for a position in the squad.
“This is the high performance culture that I want to create.”
Rohl also spoke of the importance of continuing to recruit the right players for the club, both on and off the pitch, so creating a togetherness inside and outside the dressing room.
And summing up the challenge of another season in the Championship, he added: “Expectations are higher this season. The focus is now on the first game, the first matchday in the Championship season.
“However, it’s not enough just to have a couple of good games. You need 46 matches in this league to achieve something and it starts tomorrow.”